Cisco Umbrella vs Netskope CASB comparison

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45,477 views|34,181 comparisons
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15,517 views|12,790 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jan 9, 2023

We performed a comparison between Cisco Umbrella and Netskope CASB based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions say they are easy and straightforward to deploy.
  • Features: The single pane of glass management Cisco Umbrella provides is a user favorite and saves time and money, making the entire process easy to handle. Users have full visibility of what is blocked and where users are going. Some reviewers feel the ability to manage the solution on premises would be an added benefit.

    Users say Netskope CASB has architecture components and client size that are better than what most other solutions are providing. The Cloud Control feature allows users to easily schedule cloud uploads as desired. Many reviewers suggest that user behavior analysis and diverse analysis would be great features to add.
  • Pricing: Users of both solutions say the pricing is fair and reasonable.
  • Service and Support: Users of both solutions feel the service and support they have received are very good.

Comparison Results: Cisco Umbrella is widely considered the leader in the marketplace. Users feel the process of restricting access or filtering out what content end users can view or go to (including blocking known malicious sites) and the comprehensive monitoring of user activity make Cisco Umbrella a complete solution. Reviewers feel Netskope currently lacks visibility with user endpoint devices and should have better integrations with other third-party products.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Umbrella vs. Netskope CASB Report (Updated: March 2023).
686,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The single-pane-of-glass management is very important. We have a very small team. We can't spend a lot of time going from product to product to product to either investigate or set up policy. We need to have one place that we can go to and set everything up.""I was able to implement it myself. It was really easy to install. You could install it on a server locally if you want to. If you have the biggest site, you would do that, but for my site, it was just directing all the traffic out through the Cisco Umbrella DNS. It was really handy. When the owners of the company went overseas, I knew that they would be secure because even if they were not on the company network, they would still go through the Cisco Umbrella servers. It was a complete solution for protecting the company with outgoing data.""The integration features within, for example, the Cisco VPN product and the Umbrella module are valuable.""A single pane of glass saves time... This does have a lot of options available for us to see who's doing what, what trends, what errors. We can set up our alerting through it as well. It is definitely a great dashboard.""Any time someone went off the network, the AnyConnect client had the Umbrella agent built in, and it would realize when their computer connected that they were not on the corporate network. It would monitor and they would have pretty close to the same rules that they had to follow when they were in the office, regarding what kind of website browsing they could do.""One of the most important features is the security posture check which Umbrella offers when a user accesses any website. That is one of the most unique features that it offers.""I like the original functionality, which allows for providing secure DNS services.""If it didn't have a single pane of glass, we would not be using it. The single pane of glass gives you a one-stop shop. It's like going to Home Depot. You find all your stuff there. You can see all your threats and your endpoints. It's a very important feature and makes things very simple."

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"The solution offers a better understanding of the real scenario and identifies the cloud apps that are being utilized.""The client size and architectural components in Netskope are far better than other solutions.""The detection capability is very nice and lightweight.""Netskope is a really good product. I cannot segregate which features are the most valuable. We find most of the features to be valuable. It gives us what we are looking for.""The most useful feature of this solution is Cloud Control, which allows me to schedule cloud uploads.""A feature that was valuable was the built-in website classification or safety ratings. Different websites would be rated according to analyses that the Netskope team had done, and we built policies on some of those scores. If the website scored less than a certain percentage, then we would have a different user experience around how the site would interact with the clients.""Amazing reporting and tracking mechanisms.""The interface is good."

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Cons
"The firewall capabilities could be better. Cisco is starting to introduce some layer 7 capabilities now, but there's still some room to grow. They should continue with the development of Umbrella so that it is a full-blown cloud-managed firewall solution.""The integration with other solutions is a little complex. If you want to integrate with something like ArcSight or LogRhythm or Splunk, you need to do a lot of configuration. There are no easy ways to implement it.""There are some situations where we would like to block things for specific user groups. I know that Umbrella does that, but it's not that easy.... when you want a specific task for specific rules and policies for user groups, you have to go three levels down in the menu, and it's hard to find where you do that task.""The design of the screens could be improved. Sometimes you're trying to look for information, for what you think is critical that should be on that first screen of the dashboard so that you can quickly take screenshots to have people help out, but you have to hop between screens to find little pieces of evidence.""They can maybe simplify the configuration. For example, sometimes, the proxy part is quite difficult, and that's why we didn't deploy that.""One of the issues with Umbrella is as you get into endpoint detection and response, such as EDR point solutions, some of them will not integrate well with Umbrella. Sometimes when you want to use technology, such as Always On VPN, it will not work. There are some looming issues as one type of technology starts to crossover with Umbrella. That is the challenge and Umbrella should find a way to be more compatible with some of the endpoint response solutions that are coming out on the market.""Network connectivity was a bit of a challenge at the beginning, but we were able to get the right help from Cisco.""Its on-prem rollout is quite challenging. It needs better coordination with the Internet Service Provider. It is a cloud-based solution, and any endpoint that connects to it has to go through all the gateway ISPs, but some of the ISPs block HTTPS-based DNS. That's where the challenge occurs with Umbrella."

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"In some cases, when you have a lot of policies, it can get confusing for users and you can get lost in the GUI.""Netskope CASB can improve by working more similarly to a VPN technology instead of a proxy. They then could have visibility on the endpoint device. Most clients have some tools where they check the endpoint health or other things, such as the security posture, or if they want to access the resources. For example, if they should have antivirus running, this kind of posture check should be available but it is missing.""There should be some granular custom roles that are not available. However, this is on the road map. There are many devices that do not have the Zero Trust feature and other enhancements available which they should have.""There could be better integration with other solutions.""There could be room for improvement in the subscription process.""The configuration and user behaviour analytics can be improved.""Deployment and policy tweaking were two areas where improvement needs to be made.""Support services could definitely be improved. Support is the one area that can always use improvement. It's an evolving thing, so based on demand and based on market requirement and the way market is moving towards."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It has a reasonable price. It is certainly not as expensive as it used to be. It is in line with other offerings on the market. There are a number of different flavors of Umbrella. They could bring Umbrella SIG down a bit because its price is a little bit high for what it does, but I also understand why its price is high."
  • "Cisco Umbrella is expensive and could be cheaper."
  • "When talking about Cisco solutions in general there pricing model is horrible. For example, you can sell a Meraki-based solution, but if the customer starts shopping around, someone is going to have access to the pricing at a level that you cannot compete because they do not have uniform pricing. Not everybody gets fair pricing. Unless you are one of the real major corporations selling the solution your ability to compete is impossible. Cisco will acknowledge the situation and assure you next time it will be in your favor but it never becomes favorable for you. Cisco is not very good in this regard. However, Umbrella is good."
  • "The licensing fee is paid on a yearly basis."
  • "In the region I'm from, that of EMAR, Europe, the Middle East, Eastern Asia and Africa, our organizations do not have many liquid cash assets, so the price could be better."
  • "The price depends on the use case, and it's a bit linear. But it depends on the customer's strategy and how Cisco plans to optimize the costs."
  • "We were using the free version, and we implemented the paid version about two months ago. I'm paying a fair price, but everything is negotiable with Cisco. One of the benefits that I got by having Cisco Umbrella is the licensing of the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client."
  • "There are no hidden costs with Umbrella. Everything is included in the package."
  • More Cisco Umbrella Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price of the solution is fair but it depends on your use case."
  • "There is a license required for this solution and there are many licensing models available. For example, what applications are covered as part of the license."
  • "I recall that the price was considerably cheaper than that of Zscaler. It was around 60,000 AUD for 1,000 users per year and included some training and some premier support offerings. If we wanted to take advantage of the CASB capabilities, then there was an additional subscription fee, for which we didn't have the budget. On price, I would give Netskope a three or four out of five because it's quite expensive, but it offers a lot of value."
  • "Licensing fees are paid annually."
  • More Netskope CASB Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zscaler Internet Access is a good option for carrying out multiple security… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-native solution, unifying multiple features like DNS-layer security, threat… more »
    Top Answer:We are very new users of the solution and are still in the exploration stages, but we are happy with the product thus far.
    Top Answer:We researched Netskope but ultimately chose Zscaler. Netskope is a cloud access security broker that helps identify and manage cloud applications, protecting your sensitive data from exfiltration.… more »
    Top Answer:The detection capability is very nice and lightweight.
    Top Answer:The solution is affordable, and a licensing fee is charged yearly. Access to customer service and support is included in the licensing charges. I rate the licensing fees an eight out of ten.
    Ranking
    Views
    45,477
    Comparisons
    34,181
    Reviews
    35
    Average Words per Review
    862
    Rating
    8.8
    Views
    15,517
    Comparisons
    12,790
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    650
    Rating
    8.4
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    OpenDNS
    Netskope
    Learn More
    Overview

    Cisco Umbrella offers flexible, cloud-delivered security according to users’ requirements Cisco Umbrella includes secure web gateway, firewall, and cloud access security broker (CASB) functionality all delivered from a single cloud security service. Cisco Umbrella’s protection is extended to devices, remote users, and distributed locations anywhere. As company employees work from many locations and devices, Cisco Umbrella is the easiest way to effectively protect users everywhere in minutes.

    Cisco Umbrella uses machine learning to search for, identify, and even predict malicious domains. By learning from internet activity patterns, this DNS-layer security solution can automatically identify attacker infrastructure being staged for the next threat. These domains are then proactively blocked, protecting networks from potential compromise. Cisco Umbrella analyzes terabytes of data in real time across all markets, geographies, and protocols.

    Cisco Umbrella works with leading IT companies to integrate its security enforcement and intelligence. Built with a bidirectional API, Cisco Umbrella makes it easy to extend protection from on-premises security appliances to cloud controlled devices and sites.

    Cisco Umbrella is suitable for small businesses without dedicated security professionals, as well as for multinational enterprises with complex environments.

    Why use Cisco Umbrella?

    • Simplify security management: Cisco Umbrella is the fastest and easiest way to protect all users within minutes and reduces the number of infections and alerts sent from other security products by stopping threats at the earliest point. With no hardware to install and no software to manually update, ongoing management is simple

    • Reliable reporting: Cisco Umbrella reports show activity for each device or network in the system. Users gain a more complete picture of the security risks facing their organization and can take action to remedy them.

    • Manage and control cloud apps: Umbrella provides visibility into sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud services in use across the enterprise. Users can uncover new services being used, see who is using them, identify potential risk, and block specific applications easily.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Cisco Umbrella stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Some of the major ones are its DNS-based protection, ability to protect users no matter where they are located, stability, and high performance.

    Daniel B., a network specialist at Syswind Kft, writes, “We primarily use the solution as cloud security for our branches. It protects us from direct internet outbreaks. It makes for good flexibility. The solution is very easy to manage. We found the initial setup, for example, to be quite simple. Efficient protection on the DNS level and even higher. The sandboxing feature analyses and handles the complicated security risks.”

    Victor M., SOC & Security Services Director at BEST, notes, “It provides security for the remote workers and it helps to improve enterprise security in a very easy way. We mainly enjoy web software protection capabilities. It prevents the end-users from getting into bad sites or sites that potentially could have malware or could be phishing. It helps end-users avoid the wrong sites. The solution works very smoothly. The user interface is good.”

    Netskope CASB is a cloud access security broker tool that allows you to adopt cloud applications and services without sacrificing security. The solution makes it possible to manage the movement of sensitive data between cloud app instances and in the context of app risk and user risk. With Netskope’s industry-leading cloud security solution, you can also prevent sensitive data from being exfiltrated from your environment by risky insiders or malicious cybercriminals who have breached your perimeter.

    Netskope CASB Features

    Netskope CASB has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Cloud app risk scoring: With this feature you can automatically audit your traffic to discover your overall risk profile.
    • Advanced data loss protection: The solution’s data loss protection capabilities provide contextual awareness of content being used in the cloud and include machine learning enhancements to simplify, expedite, and accurately scan and classify data.
    • Granular visibility and control: The Netskope CASB solution gives you inline visibility for thousands of apps (managed and unmanaged) in use, including users, file names, activity, and other contextual information.
    • Real-time enforcement: Netskope CASB offers real-time enforcement of security policies to prevent data loss and stop threats.
    • Streamlined operations: Because of its streamlined operations, you can identify, mitigate, and remediate insider threats, compromised accounts, and privileged user threats across web and cloud applications within a single centralized administrative console.
    • Global scale and performance: The solution runs on NewEdge, a carrier-class global network, to provide maximum performance and efficacy worldwide.

    Netskope CASB Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Netskope CASB. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Granular control of personal devices: With Netskope CASB, you can enforce granular control of unmanaged devices that have single-sign-on (SSO) access to managed cloud services, like Box and Microsoft 365.
    • Data protection: The solution has a single pane of glass and a policy interface that is easy to use to create security policies across cloud services, apps, and digital assets.
    • Find cloud services in use and assess risk: Netskope CASB can help you discover 50,000+ cloud apps and also provides risk-ratings for cloud apps so you can devise appropriate security policies.
    • Data exfiltration prevention: By using this solution, you can prevent users on corporate cloud services who download sensitive data from uploading that data to unmanaged or personal cloud apps.
    • Protection against cloud threats: Netskope CASB enables you to stop malware and advanced threats from infected users spreading through your organization. The solution directly blocks malware, whether it’s delivered from collaboration tools or downloaded from a cloud storage service to a sync client.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Netskope CASB is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it offers great reporting, has a good tracking mechanism, and has a solid Cloud Control feature.

    Prerna S., Senior Information Security Analyst II at Workato, says, “[Netskope] CASB has a lot of good features; their reporting and tracking mechanism is amazing.”

    PeerSpot reviewer Dima Z., Director at Irangers International Inc., mentions, “The most useful feature of this solution is Cloud Control, which allows me to schedule cloud uploads.”

    Syed H., Lead Cloud Security Practice at Vincacyber, states, "I have found the most useful features to be the Web Secure Gateway, CASB, infrastructural service scanning, and Zero Trust."

    Offer
    Learn more about Cisco Umbrella
    Learn more about Netskope CASB
    Sample Customers
    Chart Industries, City of Aspen, Eastern Mountain Sports, FLEXcon, George Washington University, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, Ohio Public Library Information Network, PTC, Richland Community College, Smart Motors, Tulane University, VeriClaim
    NetApp, Genomic Health, Caterpillar, Apollo, Pandora, Continental Resources, Fractal, infinera, Tesla
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Healthcare Company8%
    Educational Organization8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company21%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Government6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company23%
    Consumer Goods Company15%
    Security Firm15%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company21%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Comms Service Provider6%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business37%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise38%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise64%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business42%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise38%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise66%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Umbrella vs. Netskope CASB
    March 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. Netskope CASB and other solutions. Updated: March 2023.
    686,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Umbrella is ranked 1st in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) with 39 reviews while Netskope CASB is ranked 3rd in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) with 12 reviews. Cisco Umbrella is rated 8.8, while Netskope CASB is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco Umbrella writes "We can see all of our locations in one place and only have to make changes once for all our locations". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Netskope CASB writes "Network proxy that provides visibility during deployment and allows you to control PII". Cisco Umbrella is most compared with Zscaler Internet Access, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Palo Alto Networks DNS Security, Fortinet FortiGate SWG and Azure DNS, whereas Netskope CASB is most compared with Zscaler Internet Access, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and Skyhigh Security. See our Cisco Umbrella vs. Netskope CASB report.

    See our list of best Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) vendors.

    We monitor all Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.